Military jet crashes in California suburb
AFP
AFP - 53 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - A US F/A-18 fighter jet crashed into a residential neighborhood in California on Monday but there were no immediate reports of injuries, aviation and military officials said.
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Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in a statement the pilot of the jet ejected as the plane made its approach to land at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar shortly before midday (2000 GMT).
A Marine Corps spokeswoman meanwhile confirmed the two-seater plane was carrying only one servicemen.
There were no immediate reports of the pilot's condition or possible injuries on the ground, but local television showed plumes of thick white smoke rising from the crash site in the suburb of University City.
The charred remains of a building were also clearly visible.
The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said the crash destroyed two homes before a blaze at the scene was extinguished.
One eyewitness told a local television reporter that the plane had spiraled out of control like a scene from 1986 movie "Top Gun," the hit film about a US Navy fighter pilot played by Tom Cruise.
"It just spiraled right out of 'Top Gun'. It came flying down. My mother screamed," the man said, reporting that he had seen the plane's pilot after he landed in a tree at a nearby school playing field.
"He just looked like he was dazed like 'Oh, my God, what happened over civilian air space?'," he said.
Steve Diamond, a former military pilot who witnessed the crash, told KUSI local television the pilot appeared to be unhurt in the crash.
"And turns out that after he extracted himself from the tree, he was OK," Diamond said. "He was in good shape."
The pilot was flying quite low in the moments before he ejected, Diamond said. "Other than that, there was no overt indication of any kind of catastrophic failure," he added.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081208/tts-us-military-plane-crash-972e412.html
AFP
AFP - 53 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - A US F/A-18 fighter jet crashed into a residential neighborhood in California on Monday but there were no immediate reports of injuries, aviation and military officials said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in a statement the pilot of the jet ejected as the plane made its approach to land at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar shortly before midday (2000 GMT).
A Marine Corps spokeswoman meanwhile confirmed the two-seater plane was carrying only one servicemen.
There were no immediate reports of the pilot's condition or possible injuries on the ground, but local television showed plumes of thick white smoke rising from the crash site in the suburb of University City.
The charred remains of a building were also clearly visible.
The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said the crash destroyed two homes before a blaze at the scene was extinguished.
One eyewitness told a local television reporter that the plane had spiraled out of control like a scene from 1986 movie "Top Gun," the hit film about a US Navy fighter pilot played by Tom Cruise.
"It just spiraled right out of 'Top Gun'. It came flying down. My mother screamed," the man said, reporting that he had seen the plane's pilot after he landed in a tree at a nearby school playing field.
"He just looked like he was dazed like 'Oh, my God, what happened over civilian air space?'," he said.
Steve Diamond, a former military pilot who witnessed the crash, told KUSI local television the pilot appeared to be unhurt in the crash.
"And turns out that after he extracted himself from the tree, he was OK," Diamond said. "He was in good shape."
The pilot was flying quite low in the moments before he ejected, Diamond said. "Other than that, there was no overt indication of any kind of catastrophic failure," he added.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081208/tts-us-military-plane-crash-972e412.html
